Day 6 (11-Oct-2012) Taupo - Rotorua

After another leisurely start to the day we departed the hotel at 08:30hrs for Orakei Korako, or Hidden Valley, 40 minutes from Taupo by car. This place was the setting for the BBC Nature series ‘Walking with the Dinosaurs’, and so has attained a higher profile since the series was first broadcast. However, the geothermal park is remote, and only accessible by boat, which departs only on request. It is thus still rarely visited, even though Lonely Planet rates it as ‘possibly the best thermal park in New Zealand and one of the finest in the world’. Within the park is Ruatapa Cave, or Sacred Hole, which is a 120ft deep cave extending down into the earth. One of only two geothermal caves in known existence, Ruatapa hides a remarkable thermal hot pool at its bottom.

After taking in the sights and smells at Orakei Korako, we drove to Waiotapu, or Scared Water, which is another geothermal park. It is arguably the most colourful of all such parks in New Zealand, with hot pools ranging in colour from turquoise blue, rich green and gold, to an almost olive/yellow. The array of colours is caused by mineral salts in the water, including arsenic, gold and silver. Some of the coloured pools are situated next to bright white silica terracing, with the spectacular Champagne Pool being one of the best examples of the vibrant colours caused by mineral and silicate interference.  Aside to the multiple coloured water pools, we also encountered more mud pools, fumaroles and craters.

Intrigued by what we found, we then drove further along the Thermal Explorer Highway to Waimangu, or Black Water, just 20 minutes south of Rotarua. It is the only hydrothermal system in the world, whose creation can be traced to the eruption of Mount Tarawera on 10^th June 1886. The volcano lies on the ever-threatening Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’. The devastating explosion of ash and lava literally ripped the mountain in two, creating 22 separate active volcanic vents, which in turn gouging a 17km rift into the landscape. When the separate eruptions eventually stopped, 15 of the craters were slowly swallowed up by Lake Rotomahana, which swelled to twenty times its original size. The remaining 7 craters make up the thermal park, which is the youngest on Earth. One of the craters, the turquoise coloured Inferno Crater Lake, is the largest geyser-like feature in the world. Within 30 years of the devastating eruptions, the once barren slopes and walls of the dormant craters were reclaimed by flaura and fauna. Today, there is no hint remaining of the apocalyptic event, except for the hot pools and springs, one of which is the largest in the world.

After traipsing all day around hot smelly water, mud pools, springs, geysers and fumaroles, in warm sunny weather, we were eager to rest up, and so headed into Rotorua. Our hotel bordered another geothermal park, with views from our bedroom of Pohutu, or Big Splash, which is the most famous geyser in New Zealand.